I bet you look robotic on the dance floor!

You may have seen the Boston Dynamics robots dancing to the classic 60's song, "Do you love me" by the Contours. Fun as that is to watch, you could be forgiven for being worried that soon it'll be the other way round... humans dancing to the robots' tune! With that in mind, Leeds Beckett student, Alice Kitching, is putting her own "spin" on the human-robot relationship. 

Alice, an international student from New Zealand, has just completed a BEng in Robotics and Automation. She recently demonstrated her final-year project, an app that lets budding (and professional) dancers measure their performance as they carry out their dance routines. This individual project was the final piece of development work on her three-year course, one that saw her work on various robot projects. 

A dancer from a young age, Alice wanted to combine her interests in robotics and dancing by using technology to help train dancers. Recognising that the human interaction with, and skills-transfer from, an experienced teacher is priceless, she also noted that there can be serious disadvantages to attending high-pressure classes. These relate to the strict discipline and tough regime sometimes experienced there. Mental health and body-image issues can sometimes develop in these highly competitive environments. Also, costly classes are not suitable for everyone, especially those with ongoing health concerns related to the recent pandemic. 

As well as the traditional focus on dance training for children, Alice's study found that: "...dance, regardless of style, can significantly improve muscular strength, endurance and balance in older adults". Also, that: "Flexibility, cognitive abilities and cardiovascular endurance can be improved, and even adults who suffer from visual impairment and metabolic syndrome were shown to have improvements". 

Bringing together the world of dance and that of advanced Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies might require something akin to a balletic leap, but, having been exposed to a wide range of leading-edge technologies on her course, Alice chose to use Animate 3D for the AI-powered motion capture, and the Unity game engine to analyse and visualise the results. She developed a working prototype that combines a friendly interface with useful metrics.

As Alice said recently when demonstrating her project: "I wanted to make something that's easy for everyone to use, from the youngest dancers to old age pensioners. It had to be simple to navigate but still give good feedback on their dance performance and progress... this lets everyone measure their development without any of the negativity or pressure that you sometimes get in dance classes". 

Alice's project supervisor, and Robotics and Automation course leader, Dr Mark Judge, said: "Often, the best projects are those that students come up with themselves. These students are much more focussed on the topic, and they already have an investment in the project. The result is that they really want to succeed, and they have the passion to do that. Alice has done a very good job with this. I know that she hopes to develop it even further and I wish her the very best of luck for the future". 

Going from strength to strength, the Robotics and Automation courses at Leeds Beckett continue to provide an increasing number of students with a great combination of hands-on robotics practical work and robust academic study.